Spirited Away 2: Return to Aburaya
by nikkimurano
Summary: It has been seven years since Chihiro's return to the human world. She has forgotten all about Aburaya, the spirits, and Kohaku. What happens when fate turns the tables and she finds her way back? Can she adapt? What is it Chihiro has that Yubaba wants?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Chihiro Ogino, Mr. Ogino, Kohaku (Haku), and all other characters pertaining to Spirited AwayÓ are soul property of Mr. Hayou Miyazaki and Ghibli StudiosÒ. Any other made up characters (which are totally easy to figure out) are mine.

Chapter One

Chihiro Ogino sat in front of the window and stared off into the dusk, star-dotted sky. It had been seven years since her visit to Aburaya. She doesn't really remember anything. It was more like watching your self in a dream, but you wake up and don't remember what the dream was about.

She slid off her window seat and ambled over to the vanity mirror in the corner of the room. She sat down in front of it and removed the glittering violet hair elastic from her ponytail. She held it gingerly in her hands and examined the fine craftsmanship. A quick flash of a face appeared in her mind, but it only lasted for a split second.

Chihiro shrugged the imaged off and put the elastic in the top drawer of the vanity along with a pink shoe from when she was really little, her melon colored pants, and green and white tee-shirt from when she was ten. All these items seemed to have an importance to her for some reason. She didn't know why, but she knew she couldn't bear to part with them.

The brown haired seven-teen year old rose from her chair and pulled on a pair of deep-green pajamas and climbed into her new, western-style bed. When she pulled the chain on her bedside lamp the darkness enveloped her, as if beckoning her to sleep. The crescent moon was beginning to peak out from behind the mountains in the distance and it's dim light illuminated the room.

Chihiro closed her eyes and waited in perpetual silence for sleep to take her. The cool, night breeze fluttered the curtains as the moon played shadows across the walls and floor. Sleep finally came to Chihiro in the form of strange dreams that she wouldn't remember in the morning.

"Haku!" Chihiro shouted, "HAKU!" She ran forward, her melon colored pants and white and green striped shirt flapping madly behind her and kneeled before the white and green dragon spitting blood all over the elegant room. "Haku, are you okay? Haku!" The dragon thrashed wildly at her and they both fell into the square hole in the floor of Yubaba's living quarters. Haku flew blindly through the winding passageways and crashed into a large fan that sent him flying into rows and rows of drawers containing Kamaji, the six armed boiler man's, herbs. Chihiro flew smack into Kamaji himself. She scrambled to her feet and rushed to where the dragon poised ready to strike, blood pouring from his mouth. "Chihiro?" a voice whispered. "Chihiro!" It repeated a little louder. "CHIHIRO! -"

"GAH!" Chihiro jolted upright in her bed, her father stood in front of her, hands on his hips and looking more than a little smug.

"If you sleep any longer you'll be late for work." He informed her. Chihiro's eyes were the size of grapefruits.

"AH! I'M GONNA BE LATE!" She shrieked. Chihiro leaped out of bed and dived into her walk-in closet. She emerged seconds later wearing a light blue, cotton baggy sleeved shirt, matching pants, and a navy blue apron. She quickly tapped her feet into her orange and blue sneakers, pulled her hair into a high ponytail, and streaked out the front door to catch the bus.

Chihiro had barely caught the bus and rode it six stops to her work. The Shinrokaku bathhouse looked strangely tall and menacing to her for some odd reason. She checked her watch. It read 7:15. The bus drove off and Chihiro hurried over to the bathhouse. She, along with her assistant and co-workers, began the long and strenuous task of cleaning the bathhouse, before it opened at ten.

"Hey Chihiro, hurry it up! You got customer's waiting." Chihiro and her assistant, Meichi, stopped scrubbing the large tub.

"Now hold on a minute! This is clearly harassment!" She shouted, throwing down her cleaning brush for emphasis. She stopped for a second… '_Whoa…déjà vu.' _She thought to herself. The two girls quickly finished with the tub and filled it for customer usage.

"Excuse me Miss." Chihiro turned to face a middle-aged man with balding hair.

"Yes?" She asked with a fake smile plastered of her face.

"Um… yes, uh, where is the… uh…?" Chihiro, knowing what is was he wanted to ask, pointed down the hall.

"Down the hall, third one on the left." She said and continued on her way.

Finally Chihiro's shift was at its end. She cleaned the hallway once more and left for home. She stopped at the local fast-food place for some dinner. She sat at a booth near the back of the restaurant and was just about to dig into to her burger when a couple of people were chatting rather loudly about something in the booth behind hers. Chihiro stopped to listen.

"I'm telling you, Niki and Erebisu went to that weird place and never. Came. Back." Said a male voice.

"Well, personally Deru, I think that a nice, white padded room and a straight jacket would do you some good." A feminine voice replied icily.

"Naw," another, lower male voice added, "Deru just needs to lay off the Sci Fi's."

"Anyone who went to that abandoned amusement park never came back. Remember Ashiri?" The conversation went silent for a moment giving Chihiro ample time to take a large bite out of her burger.

"You're point?" Said the female voice, more chilling than ever.

"That is my point! Something weird is going on and it has to do with that theme park. You believe me, don't you Sukiru?"

"Hmm… well, I definitely think it's odd, but I don't think it has anything to do with that place. What happened to Ashiri was pure coincidence. Nothing more."

You're kidding!" Anger filling Deru's voice, "Are you just going to sit back and ignore the truth? Just… brush it off!"

"Hey man," Sukiru said defensively, "take it easy."

"No! _You_ take it easy!" Deru shouted. The whole restaurant was now watching the threesome. "All my life you've told me to 'lay off the video games' 'lay off the Sci Fi's'! Well, I'm not making this up and I'm not imagining things! If you don't believe me, fine, but I just want you to know that I'm not going to let Ashiri's death go in vain!" Deru stormed away, the door slamming behind him. After a few minutes of silence, the buzz in the restaurant returned. Chihiro finished her meal and caught the ten o'clock bus home.

"Theme park?" She asked herself as she brushed her hair, sitting in front of her vanity mirror once more, "What theme park could they possibly be talking about?" She pondered this for a moment. All of the theme parks she could recall weren't abandoned like the threesome in the MacDoyal's were implying… She shrugged her shoulders and climbed into bed. "I'll think more about this tomorrow…" She told herself through a yawn.

Once again the night took hold of Chihiro's imagination filling it with witches, giant babies, spirits, and strange green-haired men…

_Well, now for a few explanations… _

_Aburaya is the name of the bathhouse owned by Yubaba_

_Ogino is in fact Chihiro's last name_

_Shinrokaku is a real bathhouse in Japan. It's extremely elegant and is usually for high-ranking guests. _

_MacDoyal's is my rip-off version of McDonald'sÒ_

_Niki is myself (Nee-Kee)_

_Erebisu is my friend Elvis (Eh-Reh-Beess)_

_Deru is my friend Drew (Deh-Roo)_

_Ashiri is my friend Ashley (Ah-Shee-Ree)_

_Sukiru is my friend Skyler (Skee-Roo)_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chihiro awoke with the clatter of dishes coming from downstairs. The smell of rice and miso soup wafted into her bedroom. She followed the smell into the kitchen where her mother stood behind the counter serving the food.

"Oh! Chihiro. You're finally up. Have a seat, breakfast is ready." Chihiro sat beside her father and sorted through the mail on the table.

"Bill, bill, junk mail, bill, junk mail, Mom, Mom, Dad, Mom, Dad, …" She stopped when she took the last letter from the bottom of the stack. Nothing for me again, as usual… She pushed the remaining mail away and focused on the food her mom had set in front of her.

Since today was a holiday and a weekend, Chihiro had three days off work. She decided to put on a pair of jogging pants and go jogging outside for a while. She packed a lunch, which consisted of three Onigiri, put on her blue and orange running shoes, grabbed a light jacket, and ran out the door.

Dark clouds covered the usually bright summer sky. It began to sprinkle lightly as Chihiro neared the forest several blocks behind her house. She passed by the small, house-looking shrines, and the strange, moss-covered statue that lurked in the trees and shrubs. Chihiro smiled to herself as she fondly recalled these from her childhood. Again flashes of faces appeared in her mind, but she paid no heed to them.

She stopped outside the red, plaster entryway and stared intently into the dark tunnel. The light breeze seemed to be pulling her into the darkness as it had seven years ago. She went forward into the dark and finally appeared on the other side. It was a cement building full of cement columns and wooden benches. The floor was positively filthy. It was apparent to Chihiro that no one had been here since the last time she and her parents had come through.

The knolls and hills beyond the monochromatic building were as green and lively as ever. The field was simply gorgeous. It was here that Chihiro sat down and ate her lunch. Even though the sky was overcast, Chihiro still felt warmth, as if something wonderful was going to happen. She set her cheap, plastic and now empty bento box on the rock she had been sitting on and resolved to go exploring across the small stream for a bit.

She wandered through the empty, weather-beaten restaurants. Something seemed oddly familiar about this place. Chihiro shrugged off the notion and continued down the deserted streets when she came upon a large wooden bridge with red railings. She ran her hand across it, flaking off bits of paint as she did so. A large, worn bathhouse stood before her.

"Wow…" She whispered to herself taking a few tentative steps towards the old building.

"You shouldn't be here!" A loud, angry sounding voice made Chihiro gasp and spin around. A man with green hair, who looked only a few years older than her, stood several feet behind her.

"What?" Chihiro asked in confusion.

"You have to leave, it's almost night!" Chihiro stopped. She had definitely heard that somewhere before.

"… Kohaku?" She whispered almost inaudibly.

"What did you say?" He asked uncertainly.

"Kohaku… for some reason… that name comes to mind." She answered quietly. The man's eyes got rather wide as a sudden realization came to him.

"Chihiro?" He asked, "Is it really you?" She nodded.

"Who are you?" She inquired of the man. "Why do I know you?" The man chuckled.

"I guess you wouldn't remember me. It has been a long time." He moved so he was only inches away from her, "I guess it all started with a pink shoe." He added quietly. A flash appeared in Chihiro's mind. Her shoe was floating away, she fell in, she was clutching to the horns of a white dragon…

"Kohaku…" Chihiro's face lit up, "I remember you! You saved me from drowning when I was five!" She lunged forward and hugged him tightly. Kohaku smiled and wrapped his arms tightly around the girl clinging to his neck.

"It's been a long time, Chihiro." She released him. Suddenly, as if a can of soda had been shaken and opened, more memories came flooding back to her in a giant tidal wave. She suddenly got very dizzy.

"Unnng…" She groaned and collapsed into Kohaku.

"Chihiro!" Kohaku caught her effortlessly and picked her up bride-style into his arms. It was then that he carried her off down a long flight of stairs to the boiler room, where Kamaji sat grinding herbs for the baths.

"Haku, what are you doing down here," His eyes went wide when he laid them on Chihiro, "and with a human nonetheless."

"It's Chihiro, she's returned. My suppressing her memories didn't work nearly as well as I had hoped and the seal I put on them shattered. She's fainted from the weight its put on her senses." He laid her down on the cool, hardwood floor. "Help me with her."

Kamaji made a small bed for her in the corner and Kohaku set her down gently into the blankets. He rocked back on his heels and brushed the hair out of Chihiro's eyes.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Kamaji asked looking over at the young woman. Kohaku shrugged.

"I don't know, Kamaji. I just don't know…"


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you to Staticshock28 for being my first review! I love you! T.T_

Chapter 3

The bright light in the room blinded Chihiro when see opened her big, brown eyes a crack. She quickly shut them at the light then, knowing she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep now, opened them all the way and looked around. Kamaji was sitting on his bed shaking his fist and threatening the soot balls again.

"DO YOU WANT TO TURN BACK INTO SOOT! **GET BACK TO WORK!"** Chihiro shut her eyes when she heard the wooden door slide open.

"Kamaji are you guys fighting agai-" Lin stopped short when she saw the girl lying amongst the blankets on the floor. "Is that…is that Sen-err-Chihiro?" She asked motioning to the girl. Kamaji nodded. "How did she get back here? I thought Haku suppressed her memories and sealed the entrance." Kamaji took a long drink from his teapot before answering.

"He did, but I think these two's destinies are linked together. The love she kept in her heart all these years has broken the barrier between our world and her own." Lin nodded though she wasn't really listening.

"Okay, well, here's your breakfast, Kamaji." Kamaji took the bowl of rice from Lin and banged his mallet against the metal crank.

"Meal time! Take a break!" He shouted to the soot balls. They immediately dropped the lumps of coal they had been carrying and rushed to Lin who proceeded to toss little pink, yellow, green, and blue stars out to them. She emptied out the bucket and turned to leave.

"Hey Kamaji, you had better take good care of Chihiro or else you're in **big** trouble!" She smiled back at the old man before leaving. The boiler man chuckled and immediately began to stuff large quantities of food into his mouth. Chihiro sat up and looked around. Where was Kohaku?

"Hey Kamaji," The old man nearly jumped out of his skin at hearing Chihiro's voice, "Where did Kohaku go?" Kamaji washed down his food with the contents of the kettle and spoke.

"He went to talk to Yubaba. He should be back soon." Chihiro's eyes widened.

"Yubaba? But I thought that he had quit being her apprentice years ago." Kamaji nodded.

"He did." He yelled at the soot balls to get back to work before finishing his sentence, "After he did so business went bad. Kohaku offered to be an equal partner and help business bloom. Yubaba was reluctant, but agreed and now they are working together and making more money than ever before."

Kamaji finished his explanation, then reached out to feel Chihiro's forehead. "Are you feeling better?" She nodded and rose off the floor. She walked over to the door and was about to go out when Kamaji called to her. "Where are you going?" Chihiro smiled.

"I'm going to see if I can work here…again." Kamaji smiled and Chihiro left the room.

"What a brave little girl…err…young woman." He said to himself.

Chihiro made the long, silent trip to the top floor quite unnoticed by bathhouse personnel. She finally reached the top. It was even more elegant than she remembered, even though nothing had changed really. She knocked on the huge red door and waited for a moment.

"You again?" The brass knocker grumbled, "Very well, come in." One after another, as if a row of dominos had been pushed over, door after door opened as if invisible people had swung them open. Not wanting the experience of being pulled by the collar of her shirt at full speed again, Chihiro quickly walked into the room where Yubaba, the bathhouse witch, sat at her large desk, with eight-year old Boh sat on the floor playing with miniature army men and remote-control cars.

"So, you've returned I see. What do you want?" The gray-haired woman asked taking a long drag on her cigarette and blowing the smoke out her nose. The three bouncing, green heads were stacked on top of each other and doing tricks in front of Boh.

"Iwannajobplease!" Chihiro said quickly. She half expected Yubaba to zip her mouth closed again, but nothing happened. Yubaba moved her finger and a piece of paper and a pen floated in the air towards Chihiro.

"Sign." The old witch grumbled in a bored tone. Chihiro quickly scrawled her name, when Boh finally looked up.

"Sen?" He asked gleefully. "Is that you?" Chihiro grinned.

"It's been a long time, Boh." She replied. The paper in Chihiro's hand tugged itself out of her grasp, along with the pen, and both drifted back to Yubaba.

"Now go tell the foreman to give you back your job, my orders." Chihiro bowed to the woman and turned to leave.

"Hey Sen?" Boh called to her. Chihiro turned back.

"Actually, it's Chihiro." She corrected him.

"Chihiro then. Would you like to come play with me sometime?" He asked with pleading eyes. The brown-haired teen chuckled, gave Boh a curt nod, and left to talk to the foreman.

"I'm already under contract and it's her orders." Chihiro retaliated when the foreman declined her request. He growled at Chihiro for a moment, but when he saw she wasn't going to back down, rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Fine." He said gruffly, "You'll help Lin…again." Chihiro bowed politely to the man and strolled over to the women's sleeping quarters.

"Alright!" Lin cheered when she heard the news. Chihiro giggled happily, then suddenly, the sound of her stomach grumbling made the two of them go silent, then burst into a fit of laughter.

"I haven't eaten since before I got here." She explained through trying to stifle her giggles. Lin finally stopped laughing.

"Here, I'll go get us some food." She left and Chihiro tossed her clothes that Lin had given her onto her futon. She wouldn't have to dress till tonight, so there was no point in doing so now.

Lin returned shortly and Chihiro ate quickly told Lin she was going to take a walk. The older woman dismissed her and Chihiro trotted outside to visit the pigpen her parents had once stayed in. It smelt strongly of manure and sweat, but even so it seemed to calm her to know that her loved ones would never come back here.

"I thought you'd be here." A voice whispered. Chihiro gasped and spun around to see Kohaku standing a few feet behind her and looking rather smug. Chihiro grinned.

"I was looking for you earlier." She replied, ignoring the fact that he had startled her.

"Really?" Kohaku asked surprised, "What for?" Chihiro decided to make him work for it first, so she pointed over his shoulder and shrieked.

"WHAT'S THAT!" Kohaku turned to look and Chihiro took that opportunity to run off. Kohaku turned back to see Chihiro running through the fields. He laughed heartily and chased after her. He couldn't remember feeling this good. It had been such a long time. Chihiro screamed when she saw how quickly Kohaku was catching up. He tackled her and the two of them toppled over and rolled down a rather large hill. The two of them laughed until their sides threatened to split in half.

"I have to go now." Kohaku whispered, "I have to prepare for nightfall when all the guests arrive." Chihiro nodded. Kohaku rose to his feet and took Chihiro's hands in his, pulling her up as well and they walked back to the bathhouse, hand in hand.

_Boh is really the baby's name. I had to look that one up. U_


End file.
